We recently started some renovations in our woodshop that involved taking down the walls in a hallway. Part of those walls includes a large closet where we’ve been storing art supplies and various items we didn’t know what else to do with. During the reno my sister and I were trying to guess just how long that hallway had been in place.

My Dad built his house himself with the help of some family and friends. We knew the closet had to have been built well after they moved in during the winter of 1972. While we speculated on its origin my sister pulled off another piece of paneling to show the image here. A note from Dad from 36 years ago answering our question. Right there on the cross support, it read “Closet Built 2/24/84”.

Writing on soon to be hidden areas of our projects is common in our family. We often leave notes for those that follow. Sometimes, like in the case of one of our living room remodels, we leave entire letters to be found by future generations. Other times, in the case of my bathroom upgrades, we merely leave the date and maybe a note about something interesting happening at that time.

This note was the first one we’ve come across since Dad passed away in January. It was a nice reminder of our tradition and made it feel like Dad was a part of this project him and I had been planning for months prior.

Thanks Dad.